Review by Jeff Lindborg:

I’ve read a number of reviews on dimmable CFBs and went ahead and just got the 4 pack of the ULAmerica bulbs to try out. I’ve put them in two recessed lighting cans hooked to two different dimmer switches and one of my 3 way lamps for testing. The short version is they are somewhat whiter than I had hoped, but not terribly so – compared with the 100 watt Sylvania can lights in there it’s about as bright but somewhat whiter, not as soft. It comes on quickly as opposed to other CFBs I have around the house that take several seconds to “warm up” and get to full brightness.

You _can_ hear it buzz, however, which is a deal breaker for me. At full power it’s fine but once you kick down to a lower level it buzzes in all fixtures I tried it in – not terribly loud and much quieter than others, but I can hear it when I’m in a quiet room (which I often am) – if the TV were on or pretty much anything else making noise you’d never notice it but for me it didn’t cut it. Also, at very low power it starts to “flicker” slightly – which you should probably expect with fluorescent. This only happens on the “full slide” dimmers I have, not in the 3 way – you have to get it pretty low before it’s a problem.

So long story short, depending on how far away the light is from your ear and the “noise floor” in the room, these may work. For high ceilings in recessed lights it’d be fine – but for close lights where you might be reading or working, you’ll probably hear them humming when not at full power.

Review by J. R. W. Pinzon:

I was suspicious about this product, since the seller was not amazon and there were no reviews available. I wanted to change the lights in my apartment to be “green compliant”. I mean, to save energy and maybe some money in the long term. It was not possible to get dimmable fluorescent light bulbs in the main stores like: homedepot, menards, jewel…

I have had them for 2-3 months now and no regrets. They shine as a sun. They are better than the no dimmable light bulbs that I bought at the store. And yes, they are dimmable and they work.

The only thing could be the delivery, that takes a time. Although the seller will send you an email confirming the purchase and shipping date, I was not able to track the product. However It arrived. Order them but expect them to arrive 1 -2 weeks after (in the worst scenario). I should not be an issue if you are not in a hurry.

You won’t be disappointed.

And, of course, you will contribute to save our planet.

Review by Gary Minnaert:

Overall, these bulbs are good replacements for typical incandescent flood lights. The amount of light they put out is comparable.

These are also the first fluorescent flood lights I have found which work with dimmer switches. So a couple plusses in their favor.

There are a couple important differences between these bulbs and a typical incandescent bulbs:

1) they are more expensive

2) they have about a 1/2 second ‘pause’ when turning on. When hooked up to the same switch, an incandescent bulb will come on first, by maybe a half second. More of a small annoyance than anything, but the expectation is immediate light when you flip the switch

3) there is a ‘warm up’ time before these bulbs emit their full light output. Probably 90 seconds before they are 100%. They start at probably 70%.

4) these bulbs work with a dimmer switch, but the levels are different than a typical bulb. They probably range between 20% and 100%, whereas a typical bulb would go from 1% – 100%.

Overall, I am satisfied. They use less energy, put out the same light and work with dimmers.

Review by J. Siepmann:

Dimmable CFLs only dim about 20% (Sylvania 10%, Philips 20%, GE20%) so don’t buy expecting them to dim like incandescent bulbs. Also the way they dim is by producing harmonic distortion (changing the waveform to one where less light is produced) which can cause flickering and even without noticable flickering possibly even headaches or eye strain in some people. So go with the nondimmable CFLs instead.

Review by T. Higgins:

I was impressed with the price of these bulbs, and the reviews were mostly favorable. However, I have not been impressed with these bulbs–several have died. Specifically, one was DOA and had to be replaced by the seller. Furthermore, after precisely 8 months of use 3 bulbs in different fixtures all died separately over the course of one week. I have also not been impressed with the consistency of brightness and color temperature–there is marked differences in both among bulbs. In addition, the bulbs do buzz when dimmed, but I have not had problems with flickering bulbs. I would suggest passing on these.

Review by smoothblues:

These dimmable CFLs work very well with Insteon dimmers. They start up at very low brightness (5-10%) and dim all the way down to the lowest level. Insteon dimmers use high quality electronics that create a clean output signal. Alot of people who complain about buzzing/flickering are likely using cheapo dimmers which use triacs. Triacs and similar circuits do terrible things to the AC waveform, chopping it to pieces instead of reducing the amplitude and retaining a sine wave. Incandescents tend to absorb the noisy output of triacs better, so people don’t realize they’ve bought crappy quality dimmers until they use non-incandescent lights.

Color temperature is good, leaning towards the warm side and not the colder bluish temperatures that some people dislike. I’ve noticed a pinkish bias as the lights dim down. Under a shade or cover it’s not noticeable at all. If you are lighting with the bare bulb it may be more noticeable.

Excellent value @ prices from Amazon sellers. You’d easily pay 4-8x as much per bulb at Lowes or Home Depot which have very limited selection of dimmable CFLs.

Review by J. Pawlowski:

At a little over 10 bucks for 8 of these, you can’t go wrong.

These are just your basic CFLs, at the 2700 kelvin temperature range. That means they’re about the same shade as your basic ordinary 60W incandescent bulb. A pale yellow white, not pure white (5100 Kelvin), or daylight (around 6300 Kelvin).

Pure white or daylight CFLS cost more because the phosphors in them are more expensive, but they do have the advantage of being more natural light, rather than imitating the poor quality light of an ordinary light bulb.

So if you’re thinking of upgrading to CFLs these bulbs are a great deal to start from. But do take advantage of the technology & get a higher quality light at a higher color temperature for some of your areas, & enjoy better quality light, rather than just using CFLs that imitate the poor quality light of old fashioned light bulbs.

Winter depression can be triggered by lack of natural light because of less hours of daylight, & more cloudy, overcast days in winters. In northern climates when it’s cold, people stay inside more, use heavy insulating window curtains, further reducing their exposure to natural light. 5100K-6700k CFLs help with winter depression by exposing you to more natural light. Colors look more rich & vivid. Things look more cheery. It’s even easier to read under natural light.

I find I can read just as easy under a 4-watt 5100k CFL than a 13 watt 2700k CFL.

The backlight in your LCD display that you’re probably reading this from is probably a 5100k-6700K bulb.

Look at the white areas on the screen & then look at your lighting in the room. Doesn’t that ordinary light bulb or 2700K CFL look a lot more yellow by comparison?

Review by George B.:

Things to look on the package:

1. Kelvin temperature (K): The only accurate measurement for the kind of light or “color” of light you’ll get. 2700K is pretty close to the “warm” incandescent we are all used to, 4100/4200K is known as “Cool White” (you might look “ghostly under that) and 5,000+ is the daylight/sunlight. If the lamps do not have the K designation, do not buy them – they are the cheaper variety since establishing the K temp. costs more.

2. Lamp Life (Hrs): The life of a light bulb is the MEAN life, that is at the stated hours HALF of them will be dead and HALF of them will still be working. Life can be affected by many factors, one being how many times a day you turn them on and how long they stay on. As a rule, the more on/off’s, the less they last.

3. Initial lumens: If it is not listed try another brand. For the typical 60W equivalent it ranges between 700 and 900 lumens. Try for 800+ In general the highest the K temp. (see #1 above) the higher the lumens.

4. Make sure you read what they say about DIMMERS, as well as photocells, timers, etc. Avoid costly surprises.

5. Make sure they are rated for outdoor use – if that’s where you want to install them. The environment’s temperature has a lot to do with the CFL performance.

6. Buy as few as you can first and redo, say one room. See how YOU like it (allow 90 seconds warm-up time). If you are a male, have your female with you…she might have some objections you can’t even think about!

HAPPY HUNTING!

Review by Zoran Kahric:

I used newest and most expensive dimmer but this bulb doesn’t work. Intensity goes from 100% right down to 30% and then it turns off. While at 30% output it produces buzzing noise which can be noticed from few yards away. I am surprised GE produced such a horrible product.